Former Birmingham City coach secures new MLS job

The former Blues player achieved promotion to the Premier League in 2002/03 and is now joining the MLS club Atlanta United.

Former Pompey player Carl Robinson has been named the newest member of Atlanta United’s coaching staff. The 47-year-old will join interim head coach Rob Valentino’s team as an assistant coach, six months after being fired from Birmingham City alongside Wayne Rooney.

Robinson, an ex-Wales international midfielder, was a member of the Fratton Park squad from 2002 to 2004, however he spent a significant amount of time on loan with Sheffield Wednesday, Walsall, Rotherham, Sheffield United, and Sunderland before joining the latter permanently in 2004.

Robinson, who had previously played for Wolves, Sunderland, and Norwich, made only 17 appearances for the Blues but was part of Harry Redknapp’s exciting Pompey team that won the First Division title with 98 points in 2002/03, scoring 97 goals in the process.

Following his playing career, in which he appeared 52 times for Wales, Robinson began teaching, beginning as an assistant coach with the Vancouver Whitecaps. After two seasons, he was elected head coach, and during his tenure, the former Blues midfielder guided Vancouver to three MLS Cup Playoff appearances in four seasons, as well as the club’s first-ever Canadian Cup triumph in 2015 and appearances in the CONCACAF Champions Cup.

Robinson left Vancouver after over 200 games to coach the Newcastle Jets in Australia on a three-and-a-half-year contract. Eight months later, it was revealed that he was in talks with Western Sydney, where he remained until being dismissed of his duties two years later.

Robinson then moved to the United States, where he served as Wayne Rooney’s assistant coach with DC United. He then followed the England legend to Birmingham City, where the coaching staff was fired after only 15 games. Atlanta is now 13th in the MLS, and Robinson’s debut match as a member of the coaching staff will be a home game against the Houston Dynamo on Sunday, June 16 (Saturday, June 15 local time).